Don't Shoot the Messenger! (Adventures of a Critic)

Characters, Part Two: Personalities and Voices

Do you talk like your best friend? Do you talk like your mother/father? Your grandmother/father? 

No, you don't. Your grandparents and parents don't know the slang that you learn at school. Your best friend isn't around your family who uses their terminology all the time, so you don't. You have a unique style of speaking, much like writing, this is a definer. 

So...don't make your characters like you.

One of the biggest problems I've seen in writings on wattpad is every character sounding the same. Every author struggles with this (I have as well), but you have to learn how to find the voice of your character. Writers have to hear them speak. 

If you notice your characters are acting a lot like you, then you've got yourself an issue. A character has to be their own, they aren't a hunk of you. They are a child born out of your mind, and though it might have some ticks from you, the society you throw this character in will affect them into speaking quite differently. 

Are you hearing your MC (main character) now? ...Now make sure no one else sounds like them. 

I know, it's hard, especially for big lists of characters. If you've got twelve different characters, they shouldn't sound the same. I shouldn't hear "cell phone" from Alisha if she's never been out of Europe (specifically Britain). "Dunno" and "sorta" can come from two different people, but not everyone should be slurring words together like that. 

Also, if your character is from a country that isn't your own (and is a real country on earth with a fancy accent and whatnot) you need to know the terminology of that person. And don't overdo it. Now some things it's hard to overdo for some characters (such as the term "bloody", if you have a vulgar English character they may bloody in front of everything, much like there are people who put "fucking" before everything in America). But, I notice that the term "thongs" (which is shoes in Australia) is thrown into every single story that has an Australian that isn't based an Australia so they can get that awkward "what?" in there. Also, other british terminology is used so often it's like hitting us with an anvil of british. Brits don't talk like "tea and crumpets" every five seconds--so quit making them do so. 

A great way to get your character's voices is to have them answer questions. First, answer them yourself, then answer them as each character. If you notice a lot of them sounding like you, you have a problem. If they're all sounding like one another, you have a problem. This really helps find a character's voice. 

Also, reactions to things should be different. "Response to stimuli" is very different for each person. Here's an example:

When the cast of Harry Potter was young, they were told to write papers about their characters. It's the same question for all three of them. 

Emma Watson (Hermione) brought her paper on time perfectly and had it written so articulately it was phenomenal. It was spot on for Hermione because she is a studious girl.

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) was on time as well, but it wasn't as well thought out as Hermione's, not as organized. He was sporadic. This works well because Harry is impulsive. 

Rupert Grint (Ron) didn't write one, because he claimed that Ron wouldn't waste his time on it. That is terrific notice of characterization, because Rupert's right; Ron wouldn't because Ron's not a very good student. 

These are three very different reactions to the same thing, and that's how your characters should be too. 

Now for a book:

In the novel Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin, when Liz dies she is able to observe her family from Elsewhere, where she finds herself in the afterlife. Liz's family has three different reactions, but the parents appear to be very similar until the end.